The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1887-04-21
Chewing L. Raa Form how.

Manufacturers of tobacco say that
the habit of chewing is rapidly becom-
ing as obsolete as that of snuff-taking,
except among workingmen. 'fou
will find some of the older mon OF
wealth and refinement who chew now
adays." said a large dealer, ''but they
acquired the habit years ago. when it
was not thought vulgar or disreputable
to chew. Some of the older judges
chew, and there were members of the
supreme court of the United States
who were not easy on the bench unless
they had quid. A very few clergy
men use tobacco in this way, and not
a few of the older lawyers and other
professional men of years. But i'll the
younger generation of cultivated men
of good manners there are very few,
comparatively, now to be found who
chew. The young men of to-day rare
ly acquire the habit, and l predict that
within the next few years users of the
weed in this form will be only those
who belong to the less cultivated So
cietv 1t is now regarded very bad
form to chew, though thirty years ago
it was not No; chewing is going the
way of snuff-taking
Many of our most prominent public
men have fought hard to overcome this
habit. In Chicago and St. Louis chew
ing is now regarded as vulgar by per-
sons who make any pretensions to
social standing, and many of the de-
vices employed by men to overcome the
habit are amusing. At the late trial
of Maxwell in St. Louis the three prose
cutting officers We're noticed constantly
chewing during the trial, and one of
them said: Yes, we are chewing
spruce gum, and we are doing it to
break the habit of chewing tobacco.
| and if you will notice on the street you
| will see three out five U mean, of
course, those who are not working
men) vigorously working their jaws.
They are chewing gum, for there seems
to be tacit agreement among gentle
men here to quit chewing tobacco.
Many men now carry a strip of slip
| perry elm in their pocket, and when
| they feel the old craving come over
them, then they bite off a bit and chew
it. A downtown druggist said that
he sold great deal of licorice root to
men who were trying to break the to-
bacco habit. Roscoe Conkling used to
chew, although he never used tobacco
prepared for chewing. He had habit
of taking a good cigar, cutting it in
two in the middle, then placing the cut
end of one of the halves between his
teeth, he would chew it. He did not
| take what Ben Butler is SO fond of, a
dry smoke, as it is called, but he chew
| ed the cigar He determined to break
this habit, and to help him the more
easily to conquer it, he filed his pockets
| with lozenges or other choice candies
every morning Conkling has very
sweet tooth, and is very fond of good
| candy. The last three or four years
he was in the Senate he was rarely
without a lozenge or other candy in
his mouth. Senator Eaton and Sen
ator Jones, of Florida, were both pets
| of Conkling, and both being very fond
of candy almost daily performed this
little comedy: Eaton would stroll oven
to Conkling's desk and chat few
moments, never failing to evince the
profound admiration for Conkling that
he had. By and by he would say
..Coukling. what do you do when youl
throat is dry and husky2" Thereupor
Conkling would produce a box, III
which were the sugar plums, and
Eaton, taking two or three, woult
stroll leisurely away with one in hi:
mouth By and by Jones would wall
across the aisle and make his obeisanct
to Conkling. Then he would cougl
and hem and clear his throat. Ou
would come the box, and Jones mad,
himself happy with two or three can
dies after sufficient hesitation abou
taking them.
| But if the habit of chewing is de
creasing, that of smoking is gaining
N /. San.